It’s not about the dollars that consumers will...
It’s not about the dollars that consumers will spend on Ultra HD TVs, “it’s about the eyeballs” that will mark the needed “critical mass” before a broadcaster jumps in with an ad-supported TV network dedicated to 4K programming, Vince Roberts,…
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Disney-ABC TV Networks chief technology officer, said Monday in a “super session” conference on consumers, 4K and next-generation home entertainment at the NAB Show. “To hit that critical mass if one were to launch a 4K network that could be relatively well-supported by the ad industry, it’s probably around 40 million homes that would make it practical for you to be able to sell ads,” Roberts said. “So there needs to be a tremendous amount of penetration in that space for any of us on the programming side to begin considering launching a full-time, 24-by-7 network doing specifically UHD. That doesn’t scale very well unless you hit that level of critical mass.” Roberts agrees with those who see “more of the niche” players leading the way with 4K TV programming, he said. “It’s going to be what Netflix is doing. It’s going to be VOD, that kind of unique user experience that can deliver that high-quality content.” He said he has heard that some multichannel video programming distributors “are talking about launching full-time UHD channels, and DirecTV has made some movements in that direction, so we'll wait and see.” If it turns out “that the right business opportunity is there, then content will be created or provisioned for those platforms,” Roberts said. But Disney-ABC TV has no “immediate plans right now to put a full-time network together” on 4K, he said. “That’s pretty far off in the future for us."